Intracellular oxygen metabolism during bovine oocyte and preimplantation embryo development.

We report a novel method to profile intrcellular oxygen concentration (icO) during in vitro mammalian oocyte and preimplantation embryo development using a commercially available multimodal phosphorescent nanosensor (MM2). Abattoir-derived bovine oocytes and embryos were incubated with MM2 in vitro. A series of inhibitors were applied during live-cell multiphoton imaging to record changes in icO associated with mitochondrial processes.